Wilting Roses
by RavenclawGirl29
Summary: AU: Rose is back traveling with the Doctor and everything seems perfect until Rose gets deathly ill and forces the Doctor to make one of his toughest choices ever. Rated T for assisted suicide. Crossoverish with Torchwood


**PLOT BUNNIES, sorry, they're evil little buggers, anyways, I own nothing, as usual. This takes place after Journey's End (In my head, Rose stayed with the Doctor) and before Children of Earth**

Rose loved the hum of the Tardis as it landed, the thrill of adventure that always waited just out side its doors. It was the one thing she had missed the most locked away in the parallel Earth. Coming home was the most wonderful thing that could have happened, and the idea of visiting new places still sent a chill of excitement though her. Luckily, the Doctor landed on a planet she hadn't seen before. Rose smiled as she looked around the counsel room, her hand gently brushing one of its coral columns as she reached to push open the doors of the Tardis. They had landed in some sort of meadow, but Rose could see a city not too far from them. The meadow itself was so beautiful she could almost imagine spending a lifetime there. Silver grass stretched for miles, shining in the light of a blue sun overhead. When Rose knelt down to stroke the grass, she didn't find it hard and metal like the color would suggest, or even prickly like Earth grass, it was soft as satin. Wild flowers scattered the field like gems that sparkled in the sun. In fact, some of them were. Others had petals made of sapphires, rubies, or emeralds. Rose looked in awe, there were even some that looked like they could be gold.

"Where are we?" Rose asked in a soft voice, not wanting to ruin the tranquility they had stepped into.

"Malinagarii." The Doctor replied, stepping out of the TARDIS behind her, closing the door.

"It's beautiful." Rose sighed.

She wanted to lie down in the satiny grass, under the warmth of this planets alien sun.

"It's more than beautiful." The Doctor told her. "This place has some of the best cooking in the entire universe." He offered her his arm and they started to make their way through the glass. "You haven't _lived_until you've tasted the baked Jamae here; it's kind of like a souffle only it's ablaze in eatable fire."

"Do they have chips?" Rose asked.

"I take you half way across the universe and give you eatable fire and you want chips?" the Doctor laughed. Rose smiled swinging slightly on his arm.

"I like chips." She said. "With lots salt and vinegar." The Doctor rolled his eyes.

"Come on, then." Rose said, "Let's see what this planet has to offer." She ran ahead.

It was something she knew the Doctor hated her doing, but she could help it the thirst for adventure was always there. The Doctor hurried after her. She finally got close enough to see the big city rising out of the horizon, but not like an earth city. This city had spiral buildings at least a hundred stories high. They, like the flowers, were made out of pure diamond. Blue and purple lights sparkled between them, winking and glistening every second like some sort of strange Morse code. The streets were made of glass, not asphalt, so it gave the city the allusion of floating. There was an ivory fountain at the entrance to the city that flowed with water that changed colors every few seconds. And the glass streets were alive with all sorts of creatures; things that looked like humans only with turquoise skin, shimmering ghosts that moved like water through the crowds, creatures with four arms and six eyes. Rose's eyes didn't know where to look, there was so much to see. She was like a child at Disney World.

"Be careful, Rose." The Doctor warned, as he caught up with her. "There was a war here a few years back, people might not take kindly to strangers."

"How could there be a war here?" asked Rose in amazement. "It's so perfect."

"Nothing's ever perfect." The Doctor said, solemnly. "No matter how beautiful it may seem."

Rose looked at him, instantly she knew from his eyes he was thinking about Gallifrey. She knew the memory of its destruction in the Time War haunted him. Smiling at him softly she slipped her hand into his, while her other came up to rub his arm. He looked down at her and smiled before turning back to the city before them.

"Where do you want to go first?" He asked.

Rose looked around again. There was so much! Where could someone possibly start? Her stomach answered for her with a whiny growl.

"Let's eat." She said, "I'm starving, let's see if the best food in the universe can beat Stan's Chip Stand in London."

The Doctor laughed again, rolling his eyes. They started walking, the Doctor reached into his pocket and suddenly stopped.

"Shoot, I left the psych paper in the TARDIS." He said.

"Can't we just leave it?" Rose asked, she wanted to look around! "We won't need it anyways."

"I like always having it on hand, just in case." The Doctor said, "I'll be right back."

"No, I'll get it." Rose volunteered.

It was the last thing they needed, the Doctor to get back to the Tardis and spend an hour fiddling with something he hadn't noticed earlier. She was too eager to explore this new planet to allow that to happen. Smiling at the Doctor she released his hand and ran back to the Tardis. She threw opened the door and grabbed the battered leather wallet from the Doctor's coat. As she left the Tardis and went to close the door, a black mist of gas from no where enveloped her. It was so think she couldn't breathe, or see the ground in front of her. Reaching her hands to her chest, she struggled for air as she fell to the ground coughing.

"Rose?" the Doctor called, he must have followed her from the city, only at a slower pace. "Rose, what's the matter?"

She couldn't answer. Her chest ripped painfully with each cough. Her lungs gasping for air, only to be denied. Her coughing fits became so violent that she finally just threw up and continued to do so.

The Doctor helped her up. "It's okay." The Doctor said, "You'll be okay." He led her to the medical bay.

He handed her a towel so she could wipe the sick from her mouth. "This kinda puts a damper on the day." Rose joked weakly.

"Did this just come on?" Asked the Doctor, he was already fiddling with some complex medical equipment.

"No, it was from that black gas." Rose said.

"Black gas?" repeated the Doctor.

"Didn't you see it?" asked Rose.

"No, I didn't see anything." The Doctor said. He scanned her with an alien scanny thing she never asked the name of. Frankly she didn't care. "That's weird."

"What?"

"This says there's nothing wrong with you." The Doctor said, "It also says there are two of you standing there."

"Is it malfunctioning?" asked Rose.

"No." Said the Doctor, "It's working fine."

Rose stared at him, he stared at the scanner.

"Why don't we ask Martha?" Rose suggested, "I mean, all your equipment is for Time Lords isn't it? Not humans."

"Yeah." The Doctor said unsure. "We'll ask Martha."

Rose really didn't want to leave this planet, but she knew she would make the Doctor take her back as soon as she was better. So she sat in the medical bay like a good little girl and let the Doctor go into the console room and bring them back to Earth. When the TARDIS landed, they were in the Torchwood Hub.

**Author's Note, Thank you all for reading and a BIG thanks to my Beta reader – Dame Rose Tyler. Watch out for the next chapter where we get to see Martha, Gwen, and Jack again :D**


End file.
